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EXPOfest Awards

From the struggles of war to the struggles at home after war, a veteran’s life is not easy.  But, this often is not realized by many Americans who take their freedoms for granted.

In their two documentaries, which won awards at the EXPOfest 2017, Isabella Fabrizi and Caitlyn Martin were able to bring these struggles to light from the viewpoint of Robert Nager, an army veteran of the Vietnam War, and Richard Hines, a marine corps veteran also of the Vietnam War.  In the documentary films, Nager speaks about the many problems that drugs can bring in war and Hines tells his story about how he helps veterans to adjust back into society when they come home from war.  

Martin, a junior at Woodland, won the “Best Short Documentary” award for her film “Drugs in War”.  Martin has experience making films for Hawk Headlines and was able to interview Nager, collect some background footage, and edit her documentary in a span of three to four days.

She and Fabrizi competed in the “Preserving Our History” (POH) category of the EXPOfest film festival, a student film festival in which student-made films are judged in different categories according to the criteria of each film. Both participate in the POH with CT veterans club at Woodland, in which students are assigned to make a documentary about a CT veteran that involves his/her stories and experiences. The film had to fit certain criteria spelled out on a rubric, such as: it had to be five minutes long, include an interview, and have background footage (B-roll). The club went on field trips throughout the school year to local service organizations to talk to veterans and learn about the video process.  

Fabrizi, a freshman at Woodland, won the Critics Choice Award for her documentary “A Veteran’s Story: Service After Service”.  This was the first film that Fabrizi has ever made, so the whole creative process made her appreciate what goes into filmmaking.  She says that while interviewing is a whole process in itself, editing is the real challenge.  She spent about fourteen hours in total filming and editing her documentary.  She hopes that viewers can learn that for veterans, their struggles not only include what they endure in war, but what they go through afterward.  She wants people to know that when they say “thank you” to a veteran, sometimes it has to do with more than just the time they spent fighting in war.  

Many students also helped Fabrizi create her film, including Victoria Baliga, Hailey Bernier, Kaitlyn Syrowsky, Sylvia Lemanski, Sarah Rioux, Maddie Vallillo, and Jessica Vardon, as well as Journalism Director, James Amato.

Alex Rindos, Katelyn Minutillo, Maria Texeria, Madison Vallilo, Andrea Hansen, Julia Caruso, Nick McCusker, Matthew Hicks, and Isabella Fabrizi, as well as Journalism Director James Amato helped Martin in creating her film.  

Congratulations are in store for Martin and Fabrizi, who did a great job illustrating some of the elements that most Americans do not realize dominate the lives of veterans everyday.